Wednesday, September 23, 2009

My friend Jami's mom makes the best noodle kugel. I've made it twice for Hanukkah in 2008 and 2007.

This year, I decided to mix it up a bit and added one small diced apple and 1/2 cup golden raisins. And luckily, I haven't packed up my 9 x 13 pan and old school electric mixer yet.

The kugel is divine. I can eat it hot, cold, at the table, standing in the refrig in the middle of the night...except this year I can't have dairy so I'm bummed. However, the staff at the library enjoyed it. (And believe me, this is a dairy consortium! Butter, sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese!)

There are Parve (non-dairy) kugels that can accompany meat dishes, and I'll definitely try that next year.

Cook and drain noodles. Beat eggs well, add rest of the ingredients and beat well. By hand, mix in the drained noodles and optional diced apples and raisins. The mixture will be watery. Don't be tempted to add more noodles. They will totally expand while baking.

Grease a 9 x 13 pan well and add mixture. Sprinkle topping on. Bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees, uncovered. (Last night, I baked it for 1 1/2 hours, but I think an hour 15 would have been okay too.)

To those celebrating the Jewish New Year, best wishes to you and your family for a wonderful and peaceful year.

And to those who just love noodles, sweetness and lots of dairy, make this yummy kugel!

For all of those who think kugel is a desert, it is a side dish. I make different types, from fruit, to souffle to potato depending on the occasion. It's more of a caserole than anything. Something sweet and something sour or salty with a meal, just a Central and Eastern European thing I guess.....

This looks so amazing! I was searching for a good apple noodle kugel recipe since I have a load of apples left from apple picking a few weeks ago. Will be making this, but if I doubled the noodles (1lb) should I also double the sour cream and cottage cheese? I'm not sure I'd want to double the eggs! LOL

Lisamichele, I would not double the noodles unless you double everything else - make two batches. The noodles WAY expand and although you think you aren't using that many noodles, they take over the dish! :) I increased the noodles by 1/2 once and regretted doing that. However, if you like a very noodle-filled kugel, go for it...but I would double everything and bake in two pans or something extra extra large. - mary the food librarian

almost all the other online recipes don't have cream cheese in their ingredients lists. wtf?? doesn't noodle kugel have to have cream cheese??? all i know is i like mine with cream cheese. this one looks awesome